HEALTH Makes an Already Badass HITMAN Trailer Even More So

Next week is shaping up to be another good week in games already in 2016. Slow down publishers, slow down. I know most of you are pumped for The Division, but HITMAN is also coming next week. Here’s the ‘Season Premiere’ trailer for the March 11th release.

After playing the beta, I’m sold. After watching this trailer? I need it now.

Are you wondering what song that is in the trailer? It’s HEALTH – Men Today. Max Payne 3 fans will instantly recognize their other work from the epic airport shootout.

And now I want to play Max Payne 3 again.

Need some more HITMAN in your life? Here’s the opening cinematic showing Agent 47 doing what he does best between the end of HITMAN’s prologue and the Sanguine Fashion Show in Paris.

Are you buying HITMAN now?

Io Interactive and Square Enix are changing it up with HITMAN. Instead of releasing the entire game at once, they are taking an episodic approach. It’s been one of the main topics of discussion for many fans.

If you haven’t been following the news or need a refresher, I’ll break down what HITMAN is doing. On March 11th, HITMAN releases. At launch, you can play the Prologue (what the beta focused on) and the Paris location. After that, Io Interactive will release locations every month after release starting with Italy in April. Other locations announced include Morocco, Thailand, the US and Japan.

The staggered launch also means different price options. Want to see what HITMAN is all about without dropping $60? Buy the Intro Pack for $15. Each added location will cost $10. Or, you can pay $60 upfront for the whole game.

The biggest concern is how does Io Interactive plan to keep players engaged in between monthly content releases? That’s where the ‘live component’ comes in. I covered this in an earlier post, but I’ll give another brief overview. ‘Live component’ is broken down into four parts – Elusive Targets, Escalation Mode, Contracts Mode and Live Challenges.

Elusive Targets and Escalation Mode are the big ones here.

Io teases Elusive Targets as “the closest thing to the Hitman fantasy that we’ve ever created.” Custom-created targets are added to existing locations (Paris at launch) and you have a limited time in real-time to kill them. You get one chance. “After the Elusive Target leaves the game world (one way or another) they never return,” says the developer.

I know, it sounds incredible. If it’s anywhere close to as cool as it sounds, Elusive Targets will be amazing.

Escalation Mode is all about testing your skills as Agent 47. Here’s an example of what one of the challenges could look like.

“As an example, the first stage could be to eliminate your target with a sabre. Then, the second stage could be to eliminate your target with a sabre whilst dressed as a waiter and removing any security camera recordings within two minutes.”

The more I hear and see about HITMAN, the more my concerns erode away.

Are you giving HITMAN a shot at launch, or are you waiting until all the content is out?